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The studio known for positive LGBT representation has apologized for an insensitive portrayal.

Hainly Abrams is a transgender character in Mass Effect: Andromeda, and while BioWare may deserve a pat on the back for an attempt at inclusion, the portrayal has caused more harm than good. BioWare has heard the blowback and is moving to fix the situation.

One of the chief complaints in Abrams' portrayal is her freely acknowledging her "dead name" to the Ryder twins. A dead name is the name the individual used to be called before transition, and it is often a sensitive issue as a source of pain and conflict before taking on the new life. In the transgender community, the name is usually only given after a long period of trust has been built up with another individual, something that was not the case in the off-hand comment to Ryder when Abrams mentioned why she left the Milky Way for Andromeda. The disclosure and explanation of why Abrams left proved that BioWare did not fully understand a transgender individual or the issues involved before including Abrams in the game

In the blog post detailing upcoming changes to the game, BioWare General Manager Aaryn Flynn mentioned changes to Abrams character were coming. And BioWare even went so far as to officially apologize for its insensitivity.

“Hainly Abrams was not included in a caring or thoughtful way," BioWare tweeted. "We apologize to anyone who interacted with or was hurt by this conversation.”

The company said it has worked with the transgender community and that it will make appropriate changes. When the game is patched within the next two months, Hainly will "only reveal certain information to Ryder after they have developed trust, and only if the player chooses to support her.”

John Keefer

Contributing Editor

John Keefer is a curmudgeon that has been in journalism for 35 years, the last 16 in the video games industry. He loves real-time strategy games and prefers old-school Total Annihilation to StarCraft. He also loves isometric RPGs, and has been addicted to World of Warcraft for more than 10 years. He sucks at shooters and multiplayer and is purely a PC guy. And being a former member of Shack, he also likes Chatty. Go figure.